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Want to do some fun experiments on your brain? Don't worry, these are ones you can try at home. Not only are they perfectly safe, but they will also they will help you demonstrate your own brainpower.
1. Activate your right brain by singing.
You can rhyme more easily when singing, because you're working from the part of the brain that recognizes patterns (usually the right hemisphere). Try a fun singing experiment. Without singing, make a rhyming poem about something that happened today. Work on this for a minute or so, then try it again, but this time sing the poem as you make it up.
You'll probably find that you can easily find rhyming words when singing. You can also create a song in order to remember things. Singing may also help activate your right-brain more fully when you are working on a problem involving spatial reasoning. This is speculative, but it can be a fun experiment to try.
2. Control autonomic functions.
Pupils get bigger when it is darker, and also when you see something you like. They even get larger if you just vividly imagine something you like. Try an experiment right now. Look in the mirror and watch your eyes as you imagine someone you like, a favorite food, or anything you would like to see.
You'll see your pupils quickly grow in size. Try different imagined scenes to see which work best. With practice, you can consciously change your pupil size at will. You can look at a light in the room to make your pupils smaller again. There are ways to use this trick, but for our now, it is just a way to show how you can consciously control what is normally an autonomic body function. (There are ways to control your heart as well.)
3. Fun experiments in motivation.
Ever feel unmotivated, or like your brain just won't wake up? Try this simple experiment: talk about your plans, or anything you are passionate about. When I'm stuck at the keyboard, unable to write, I can talk about the next mountain I'm going to climb here in Colorado, and suddenly I have the mental energy to get back to writing.
Try this experiment with yourself. Try it on friends. When they're in a bad mood, ask them to explain something to you that they are passionate about. The excitement generated changes the chemicals in the brain, and so changes one's state of mind. Experiment to find topics that work best - for your friends and yourself - and then remember them for future use.
4. Try fun experiments for brainpower.
The position and use of your body affects your brainpower. You can prove this to yourself with a simple experiment. The first part (the control) involves doing math problems in your head. However, do them while you are slouching and breathing through your open mouth. See how quickly you can arrive at the correct solutions.
Now try doing this mental math again while sitting up straight, keeping your mouth closed and breathing deeply through your nose. Most people will notice an immediate improvement in how well their brain functions. Nose-breathing generally delivers more oxygen to your system, including the brain, but why posture and a closed mouth helps is not yet understood.
5. Pretend to be someone else.
We can partly reproduce the characteristics and even talents of others by imitating them. This is something we often discover as a child, and then forget. Pretending to be superman or another hero really does give a child more courage temporarily.
To experiment with this as an adult, imagine you are Einstein when you are working on a math or physics problem. Be your favorite businessman when you are working on a business situation. The key here is to think like that other person would, and even sit, stand and move like they would. You may just be making these things up, but it can still be a powerful way to access more of your brainpower.
6. A experiment in concentration.
When it is hard to concentrate, it is often due to the thoughts going on your head. These may be just below the level of consciousness, and they suck away your ability to focus. Here is a technique that you can experiment with to resolve these "mind irritants."
Stop and watch what is going on in your head. An appointment you forgot to write down? An argument that wasn't finished? A financial problem? With practice you'll find more and more things that are quietly
Now do something with these thoughts, to let them go for the moment. Put the appointment on the calendar, or quickly finish that argument in your head. If an issue is not resolvable right now, tell yourself clearly "There is nothing to do about this until Friday." This categorization of bothersome thoughts let's your mind drop them, and then better concentration is automatic.
Are they fun experiments or just useful ones? Either way, there is no harm in trying them, and these simple experiments can show you how to better use your brain.